Multiversal News!

Yes, the <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/21566-dc-comics-full-october-2014-solicitations.html>DC Comics October 2014 Solicitations</a> are here, and as usual, we have combed through them to look for the biggest and most important pieces of news.
<p>Also as usual of late, there are many things in the solicitations that have been announced ahead of time. Luckily, this solicitation set is so packed with news, we had no trouble finding ten items. Check out what we picked out as you click through.

EARTH 2: WORLD’S END Begins

The next DC weekly series - the third to launch in 2014, hits in October and ties directly to the war referred to repeatedly in the pages of <i>Futures End</i>. The series will kick off on the second Wednesday of the month, October 8, and thus have four issues (the other two weeklies will have five issues in October).
<p>The series promises “death and destruction will follow each week, and you’ll never know who will live and who will die!” So, if you are a big <b>Earth 2</b> fan, you might be a little more concerned about this series than you were before you read this. In that case, sorry to be the bearers of bad news. Also, Huntress and Power Girl are back on Earth 2. So there’s that!

MULTIVERSITY Goes to Earth-Me?

Because it’s just goofy enough: the next issue of <b>The Multiversity</b> is subtitled “The Just” and is drawn by Ben Oliver. After DC Comics has attempted to capture the current technology-obsessed generation with things like variant “selfie” covers and misused hashtags (see <i>Teen Titans #1</i> for that booboo), the newest attempt is from Grant Morrison, and features “Earth-Me,” a world where those with superpowers are super-obsessed with themselves.
<p>The story focuses on the “next generation of supers” including Chris Kent, Damien Wayne (different spelling for a different Earth!), Alexis Luthor, Offspring, Megamorpho, Donna Troy (she exists! Somewhere…) suddenly have to get out from behind the cameras and fight off the villain who has been harassing the multiverse.

The New 10?

Yes, in October 2014, DC Comics gets a major facelift. As we’ve covered for the past two weeks, several new series and a handful of major creative changes will make the New 52 feel New all over again. <b>Arkham Manor</b>, <b>Gotham Academy</b>, <b>Deathstroke</b>, <b>Klarion</b>, <b>Lobo</b>, and <b>Trinity of Sin</b> all kick off as new series in October. Meanwhile, <b>Green Arrow</b>, <b>Catwoman</b>, and <b>Batgirl</b> get completely new creative teams, while <b>Earth 2</b> gains a co-writer and a new artist.
<p>In addition to those ten high-profile and pre-announced changes, Jeremy Haun is switching over from <i>Batwoman</i> to <b>Constantine</b> with October’s issue, and Georges Jeanty takes over <i>Batwoman</i>, at least for the month. <b>Detective Comics #35</b> and 36 will see the “guest team” of Ben Percy and John Paul Leon step in for Buccelato and Manapul. So maybe it’s the New 13 this month.

JUSTICE LEAGUE Plays Catch-Up

<b>Justice League</b> is the only surviving original New 52 series that will <i>not</i> have its 34th issue ship in August. That just means extra fun for fans of the premiere superhero team at DC Comics in October, though, as they’ll get two issues that month, with #34 and #35 shipping the first and third of five Wednesdays that month.
<p>The first will end the “Power Ring” arc, and the second starts a new one featuring the next evolution of Amazo. Oh, and Wayne Enterprises and Lexcorp are merging? Um…

ANNUALS Everywhere

Want some extra issues of your favorite series? Well you’re likely in luck, as the extra week (there are five Wednesdays in October if you haven’t been noticed!) affords time and space for several Annuals to join the three weekly series in publication that last day.
<p><b>Justice League United Annual #1</b> sees the Legion of Super-Heroes come to the present day once more - warning of a doomed future (a common theme in the DCU right now).
<p><b>Justice League Dark Annual #2</b> sees the House of Mystery and House of Secrets come to life as humanoids - spelling doom for the JLD.
<p><b>Harley Quinn Annual #1</b> (guess her Comic-Con special doesn’t count as an Annual) is polybagged, in order to include smells. Will there be scratch-and-sniff? Perfume rubs? Just some gaseous emissions vacuum sealed into each bag? We can’t wait to find out.
<p><b>Swamp Thing Annual #3</b> features Capucine, Etrigan the Demon, “brutal action and painful goodbyes!”
<p>And even <b>Injustice: Gods Among Us</b> gets in on the fun with a <b>Year 2</b>-closing annual featuring “untold tales” of Hal Jordan and the Sinestro Corps and an all-Gordon team-up (though this one ships the first week of the month, to avoid overlap with the launch of <i>Year 3</i>).

Azz/Chiang’s WONDER WOMAN Finale

Yes, folks, the team who premiered a very different take on <b>Wonder Woman</b> with the dawn of the New 52 are leaving the series behind, and October sees their final issue. We’ve seen Wonder Woman’s past change, her family expand greatly, and even seen her become the new God of War. What else will Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang do to Diana before they leave?

SUPERMAN UNCHAINED Awaits Trade-Waiters with Complete HC

Okay, okay, those of you who wait for the trade can feel free to gloat now. On December 3, 2014, you can pick up <b>Superman Unchained Deluxe Edition HC</b>, with the complete story from Scott Snyder, Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Dustin Nguyen. It’ll run you about thirty bucks for the 9-issue tale.
<p>And if you need a more massive tome to keep your bookshelf weighed down, you can check out the <b>Futures End: Five Years Later Omnibus HC</b>, featuring a staggering 912 pages of story for $99.99 - every one of the September 2014 specials in one, heavy package.

BATMAN: Endgame

They took you to the beginning with “Batman: Zero Year,” and now the team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are taking you to what sure sounds like an end with their next storyline, “Endgame.”
<p>So what is the story about? Well, there are about a hundred bats on the cover, and the solicitation text says it has “the biggest, deadliest, and most epic story yet” from the team. And that’s it. So… any guesses? (We will note that if this follows the typical 6-issue story arc, it will end in March, 2014 - at the same time as <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/21375-could-a-new-dc-crisis-lead-to-another-reboot-in-2015-we-analyze-the-clues.html>a bunch of other stuff</a>.

Lanterns (all of them) Meet the New Gods

The Green Lantern lineup of books has been in and out of crossovers for pretty much the entirety of the New 52, and that shows no signs of stopping as the line, virtually its own universe for the last three years, dives right into another story that once again encompasses the entire group. in <b>Godhead</b>, the various lantern corps will clash with Highfather and the New Gods. The Gods are taking the emotional spectrum by force, and the story will crossover into GL, GLC, GL: New Guardians, Red Lanterns, and Sinestro, plus ship a special issue to kick it all off. And that’s just Act 1, so look for this story to close out the entire year.

Vertigo Defy Covers to Start Stories Early

Covers? We don’t need no stinkin’ covers!
<p>That’s what Vertigo is saying in October, as several issues including <b>Astro City #16</b>, <b>Coffin Hill #12</b>, <b>Fairest #30</b>, <b>Fables #145</b>, <b>FBP #14</b>, <b>Dead Boy Detectives #10</b>, and <b>Hinterkind #12</b> will forgo covers for the month, instead starting the story right there on the front of the book. It’s actually a technique not foreign to DC Comics - <i>Watchmen</i> started the story of each issue with the cover considered the first panel of the story thirty years ago.